Red Sox sign pitcher from Japan with 2.42 ERA for MLB comeback

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The Boston Red Sox have had a busy offseason, and it continued in an intriguing way on Tuesday.

They signed Kyle Keller to a free agent contract, according to The Athletic's Will Sammon.

Keller has spent the past four seasons pitching in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league.

In NPB action, Keller has had a 2.42 ERA. He earned his way back stateside.

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Keller, 32, was originally an 18th-round pick of the Miami Marlins in the 2015 MLB Draft out of Southeastern Louisiana University.

He ended up making his major league debut with the Marlins in 2019. He appeared in 10 games at the MLB level that season, putting up a 3.38 ERA.

He moved to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for the 2020 season, appearing in just two games, allowing two runs in 2.1 innings.

In 2021, it was on to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Keller. There, he got into 32 games, but his ERA was 6.48.

In 46.1 innings at the MLB level, Keller has struck out 48 batters.

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The lanky 6-foot-4 pitcher went to Japan to try and rediscover himself as a pitcher, and clearly he did that, and he wasn't in a rush to leave.

This was a good time in his career to take one more chance at reaching MLB and succeeding, and Keller is taking that opportunity.

He'll have work to do to make the Red Sox, but if he does it, it'll certainly qualify as a cool comeback story.

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